This snake-like vine, about a dime’s diameter thick, reaches just above the trees topmost leaf. It’s strong enough to hold my weight. Perched on a precarious branch, appreciating the miles of view, I decided to take a closer look and observed a second vine. This, much smaller string-thick vine shot off little pig-tail snares in every direction. It looks careless, but it is resourceful to utilize the larger vine’s slaved-for access to the top. I am still a bit puzzled on how it reached the top so effectively, as between its highest point of contact and its second highest point;, there is a 2 foot gap of loose hanging. Did wind blow it to the top? Or did wind rip its other points of contact away? I’m not too sure.
The Polynesian word for palm tree is something like “Tree of Life.” But I found a palm that is so thorny it’s more like Tree of Pain. The amazing thing is how efficiently it makes its thorns. The individual leaves instead of falling off, start to roll into a cone that eventually becomes a very hard pointy spear. And the branches which hold the leaves don’t fall off normally either. They leave behind a triangled section of branch that over time becomes sharp scales which line the trunk as it grows.
And then there are 6 inch centipedes that sleep out in the open, protected by thousands of fallen tamarind leaves that look exactly like the body and legs of a centipede. And if the creature still feels uncomfortable it will crawl up to the tree and hide under the tamarind tree’s loose bark. The area around this tree is full of rotting plant material, perfect environment for what centipedes eat. At any given time if I want to mess with one of these bugs I just have to go to the tree and patiently peel off some bark or stir up the leaves, and within 10 minutes I’ll have one.
A picture really is worth a thousand words here but I’ve got no camera.
You guys got any cool nature in your area?
The Polynesian word for palm tree is something like “Tree of Life.” But I found a palm that is so thorny it’s more like Tree of Pain. The amazing thing is how efficiently it makes its thorns. The individual leaves instead of falling off, start to roll into a cone that eventually becomes a very hard pointy spear. And the branches which hold the leaves don’t fall off normally either. They leave behind a triangled section of branch that over time becomes sharp scales which line the trunk as it grows.
And then there are 6 inch centipedes that sleep out in the open, protected by thousands of fallen tamarind leaves that look exactly like the body and legs of a centipede. And if the creature still feels uncomfortable it will crawl up to the tree and hide under the tamarind tree’s loose bark. The area around this tree is full of rotting plant material, perfect environment for what centipedes eat. At any given time if I want to mess with one of these bugs I just have to go to the tree and patiently peel off some bark or stir up the leaves, and within 10 minutes I’ll have one.
A picture really is worth a thousand words here but I’ve got no camera.
You guys got any cool nature in your area?
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